Can someone help me with my decision.
I got into all 3.
Best Overall College
Campus
Engineering major (no Engineering at BC - not sure what to do / Physics)
Anything else that would help make my decision.
Thank you
I would choose Northeastern because of their co-op program
OP have you visited any of them? They are each strong in a different way and they each give off a different vibe.
While an undergrad degree in economics will lead to the same career path as one in business, a degree in physics will not make you an engineer. If you really want to be an engineer, cross off BC.
As @redpoodles said, visit the schools for a day, not just a quickie tour.
What branch of engineering? BU does not offer civil or chemical engineering. Northeastern only recently added biomedical.
Thinking Bio-medical engineering however an expose to all engineering majors will help me decide. If I end up crossing of BC, still need to figure out Northeastern / BU. As of now, I am in the Honors in Northeastern, not indicated in BU acceptance. Like the idea of the Co-op. Just need to figure out school vs school, campus life… I’m headed to visits next week. Just want to hear everyone’s opinion. Keep them coming. Thanks
BC: Prettiest campus (stunning, really). Preppy-ish good-looking student body in a lot of Vineyard Vines dresses and guys with salmon colored shorts and boat shoes when we toured over the summer. Has a reputation as a Friday night hard-drinking school despite the Jesuit life. (?) Not as centrally located as the other two–in fact, it’s on the very end of the green line (T) and in a pretty exclusive town on the outskirts of Boston. We never saw the dorms, which are apparently inconveniently located and you have to take a bus to them??? The campus is on a hill and so you will likely climb a lot of steps (A LOT OF STEPS) on a daily basis. Pristine gardening, Stunning architecture. They have a “Chocolate bar” and I mean good chocolate not Hershey’s. But there was something about it I really liked despite it being too fancy/preppy/alcholic for my taste. The Jesuit nun gave us free cold water in the waiting room and was so kind. It was peaceful or something, more so than the other two.
BU: The campus is very long and skinny, like, over a mile, and divided by a very busy street with the T running down the middle. Easy to be anonymous. Sounds of traffic everywhere, ALL THE TIME. The BU “beach” is not a beach. It’s a tiny strip of grass, nothing special. Large variety of majors in case you change your mind but not always easy to switch departments, and might be impossible if you don’t have a good GPA (like, if you want to switch to film school or something). The student body appears a bit more “hipster” ish-- I didn’t see any Vineyard Vines while touring there although I’m sure its there. Boston is really right at your feet here–big music scene, night life, work life, restaurants, etc., if you want urban opportunity, it’s all there. No feeling of peace on this campus whatsoever if you ask me-- more like urban hurry. I know two people who went there and did not like it. Apparently the administration is extremely inflexible and “sorry, not my problem” unhelpful. But it’s BU! It will be exactly what you make it to be.
NEU: I did not tour this school myself . Nice modern campus according to my daughter. Not the greatest neighborhood though, and I’d worry about her alone at night at the Ruggles T-stop in a way I wouldn’t worry about her at any of the BU or BC T-stops. There is a party scene there as well and it’s big enough to attract kids from other schools. My D came away feeling that the entire school is focused on professional development, what with the emphasis on co-op and such. She sort of felt that it’s the opposite of a LAC, where the emphasis is on absorbing great books and becoming a better writer/researcher or whatever, the emphasis here is all about building a resume that will make you employable.
They are three great schools. We are in the same boat of choosing.
Northeastern has a Green Line branch with a stop right in front of the campus - no need to go to Ruggles station unless you are going south towards Jamaica Plain and Roslindale.
NEU I would argue is actually a better neighborhood than it’s credited for in this post. You actually have a real campus, and I use both the green and orange line regularly. I find the orange line to be more reliable, but I use both depending on where the actual stop is compared to where I am trying to go. I like how close I am to the T stops but there are also a lot of restaurants and shopping within walking distance. Newbury street, for example, is only about a 15 minute walk from my dorm and even if I don’t want to buy anything it’s nice to walk around the area. We actually have a lot of green space for such an urban campus as well. One of the reasons I prefer NEU to BC is that it has the real campus feel, but is actually a part of the city. It takes an hour on the T to get to the BC area and there is significantly less to do there. One of the things I love about NEU is that since I’m not interested in the party scene, I can always find things to do in the city.
I want to clarify something right now: BU has a much bigger party reputation than NEU. The professional focus at NEU means a large amount of time spent on academics, at jobs, working with serious extracurriculars etc. And when I say serious I mean a lot of the extracurriculars are student-run businesses. I, for example, am a part of the student design company and the student PR group. I’m not saying you can’t find a party at NEU if you’re looking for one. It’s a college campus, of course you can. But BU from what I hear actually has a party reputation that just isn’t associated with NEU.
It’s also important to note that NEU is climbing the college rankings. The degree will be worth more by the time you graduate than it is now. People used to think of NEU as a backup school to BU but now people consider NEU a serious competitive school with a program that can’t really compare to any other school. When I was choosing between schools I spoke to employers in the area and they said that the new trend was to hire kids from NEU over kids from Harvard because they were coming to them with actual experience and new how to work hard.
Though students at NEU are focused on their resume’s I think there is a strong consideration of academics as well. I know a lot of people who genuinely love what they are learning and have classes that they are passionate about. This combination makes them excited to go on co-op. I feel like very few people are bored by what’s offered here.
Clearly I’m advocating for NEU, but it’s because I made the same decision between these three schools a year ago and there is a reason I made this choice. I wanted an urban school that was going to simultaneously give me a genuine college experience and prepare me for the competitive job market. I am so happy with the choice I made and I can’t recommend the school highly enough.
That is good to hear, @beanandpuppycat.
Out of curiosity, did you get financial packages from the three schools and how did they compare? BU was more generous to our daughter and we are still waiting to see what NEU allots for her…
As someone who’s lived here for 20 years-- For BC taking “an hour” to get into “town,” not really! I’d say it’s more like 15 minutes, depending on where you’re going. I can see having to come in from the GreenE to change to the GreenB feeling like an hour, though-- but just to get into “town” FROM BC is not hard at all. It’s very easy and quick.
For anyone from elsewhere-- Boston has excellent transportation and it’s very easy to get around. You can be anywhere in 1/2 an hour unless you are coming from a suburb and have to change lines twice or something like that. Of course, there are always those days something breaks down then it does take an hour…but that isn’t TOO often. You definitely don’t need a car at any of these schools. A bike would be nice at any of them though.
Also, puppy cat, how do you find the administration? Do they hand hold or are you basically on your own/out of luck?